Aaron
The first thing that hits me is how fast control returns.
Not because I want it to.
Because I have to.
One heartbeat ago my mouth was at her throat, my breath buried in the warm curve beneath her jaw. I’d nuzzled there without thinking, without permission from my own better judgment, letting my wolf breathe her in where my mark should go.
Where it wants to go.
Where it could have gone if I’d allowed even one more second of honesty.
And then,
Footsteps.
Measured. Certain. Close.
The air turns from heat to steel.
My body goes rigid, not from shame or fear, but reflex. A lifetime of pack law and leadership snapping back into place like armor. The bond screams in protest, Shay surging hard at the memory of her scent at my throat, of how easily I could have taken her right ther
